Operation Parasite: diamonds, smallpox, and mass expulsions of strangers in colonial Sierra Leone

In 1956, the British colonial administrators in Sierra Leone organized an operation of mass expulsion of migrants that aimed to solve the problems of health and security in the country's diamond mining areas: Operation Parasite. This article examines how colonizers created artificial categories...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of African studies 2023-01, Vol.57 (1), p.139-159
Main Author: D'Angelo, Lorenzo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African history
Epidemics
expulsion massive
Expulsions & suspensions
mass expulsion
Migrants
migrants and health
migrants et santé
Mines
Mining
Parasites
Police
Sierra Leone
Smallpox
variole
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Summary:In 1956, the British colonial administrators in Sierra Leone organized an operation of mass expulsion of migrants that aimed to solve the problems of health and security in the country's diamond mining areas: Operation Parasite. This article examines how colonizers created artificial categories of "strangers" to expel people who were legally designated "undesirable subjects," as well as how the health conditions of those living in the mining villages together with an ongoing epidemic of smallpox were instrumental in morally justifying this operation. The article argues that Operation Parasite was not only a police operation used to expel migrants to protect the interests of mining capitalism, but also a medical operation, which contributed to establishing the representation of an inverted reality: namely, that migrants, not colonizers, were the exploiters of Sierra Leone's natural resources.
ISSN:0008-3968
1923-3051
DOI:10.1080/00083968.2022.2033629